+ Best Political Movie of the Year + Best Historical Movie of the Year
 |
| Two big stars climb some of the many steps towards government on this simple, great, sobriety-signaling poster for Steven Spielberg's The Post |
In 1971, a former military analyst for the Defense Ministry leaks a copy of a top-secret report on the United States government's internal knowledge of the long war effort in Vietnam, which clashes repeatedly with their statements to the public. As Nixon's White House leans hard on the press, the country's first female leader of a major newspaper finds herself with a hard choice to make.
The Post is the 31st theatrical feature and - in my opinion - 7th masterpiece from Ohioan master filmmaker Steven Spielberg (Lincoln (2012)), - following, in chronological masterpiece order; Jaws (1975), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Jurassic Park (1993), Schindler's List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). It reaffirms that Spielberg is still one of the world's top filmmakers, and the sheer number of masterpieces he has made easily ranks him among the all-time greatest filmmakers.
The Post is written by Liz Hannah (Skin (2014, short)) and Josh Singer (The Fifth Estate (2013)) and based on the actual Pentagon Papers leak and coverage.
The Post joins for the first time two of the great cinema actors of our time, Tom Hanks (Bridge of Spies (2015)) and Meryl Streep (Adaptation. (2002)), which is thrilling in itself, but of course especially since they are joined in a great story here: Hanks has less evolution character-wise as the principled editor Bradlee here, whereas Streep is the film's anchor and main protagonist as newspaper owner Kay Graham, who balances taking her paper, The Washington Post public while also deciding on a high-risk course in a political publication storm. Streep is a saintly force of one here, and her performance's nuances and drive makes the sky-high stakes for her very real to us. This, - along with the practical points of retrieving the report and debates on its imports, - help make The Post a thrilling and riveting watch.
Adding quality are also a fine cast of supporting actors: Bob Odenkirk (Girlfriend's Day (2017)), Tracy Letts (Paramedics (1988)), Bradley Whitford (I Saw the Light (2015)), Jesse Plemons (Flutter (2014)) and Bruce Greenwood (Donovan's Echo (2011)), who has a striking resemblance to his character Robert McNamara, are all on point. Spielberg works with a brilliant team of proven collaborators, and especially Janusz Kaminski's (Hania (2007)) cinematography and Rick Carter's (The BFG (2016)) production design are a joy to behold.
The Post is inevitably compared to the great All the President's Men (1976), which details Washington Post reporters' uncovering of the Watergate scandal that led to President Nixon's resignation, and recent great investigative journalism drama and Best Picture Oscar-winner Spotlight (2015), and many try to belittle the film's power and quality with these comparisons, but the truth is that The Post is grade A filmmaking from start to finish.
It is also a big celebration of the importance of real, committed, daring journalism, the freedom of the press and its check on those in power. - A stance and message that is at least as timely today as it was in the 1970s. The Post makes a sly implicit parallel between Nixon and Donald Trump's White House today, and it makes us as audiences wish that there are journalists out there today on our watch, uncovering, for instance, the undeniable red lines that must exist between Facebook, Russia and Trump's election, hidden under what may today be billions of strands of digital data.
Related posts:
Steven Spielberg: 2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
War Horse (2011) - Spielberg visits WWI with problematic horse drama
The Adventures of Tintin/The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011) - Affinities for Tintin, earlier Spielberg and film will decide your experience of this 3D mo-cap adventure
Super 8 (2011) - Abrams' nostalgic family crowdpleaser (producer)
Band of Brothers - TV mini-series (2001) - WWII-sacrifice and -comradeship portrayed with skill and integrity (producer)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) - A robot fairy tale with both heart and mind
Amistad (1997) or, Must... Free... Slaves!
Empire of the Sun (1987) - Spielberg's grand production of boy-in-China-during-WWII is a misfire
Twilight Zone The Movie (1983) - Fear takes many forms in tragedy-struck anthology
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) - Spielberg's greatest accomplishment
1941 (1979) - Spielberg's bizarre 'comedy spectacular' sinks like a rock
Top 10: Best car chases in movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Duel (1971) - Spielberg's truck terror is ideal afternoon fare
Mentioned movie: Spotlight (2015) - McCarthy puts an admirably bright and sober light on one of the major crimes of modern history
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 50 mil. $
Box office: 168.7 mil. $ and counting
= Box office success
[The Post was released 22 December (USA) and runs 113 minutes. Spielberg got involved with the script and production in February 2017 and, feeling that it was a timely story that was important to make and release fast, shot it during post production of his Ready Player One (2018). Shooting took place in New York from May 2017 - ?. The film opened #20 in 9 theaters to a strong 526k $ first weekend in North America, where it peaked at #2, behind Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, spent 3 more weeks in the top 5 (#4-#5-#5), spreading to 2,851 cinemas, grossing 81.7 mil. $ (48.4 % of the total gross so far). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets have been the UK with 12.8 mil. $ (7.6 %) and France with 11 mil. $ (6.5 %). Several journalists have criticized the film for downplaying The New York Post's involvement in the breaking of the Pentagon Papers to the public. The film was nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Picture, lost to The Shape of Water, and Best Actress (Streep), lost to Frances McDormand for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. It was also nominated for 6 Golden Globes, won an AFI award, 3 National Board of Review awards and many other honors. Streep returns in Big Little Lies' S2 (2018) and theatrically in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018); Hanks is involved in several coming releases, and which one will come first is not yet sure. Spielberg returned with Ready Player One. The Post is certified fresh at 88 % with a 7.9/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of The Post?
No comments:
Post a Comment